


Lost In The Shadows

by DarkestOfQueens



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Comfort/Angst, F/F, Family, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fanfiction, I'm Going to Hell, Magic, Mystery, Original Character(s), Regina Mills is Snark Queen, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Snowing - Freeform, Swan Queen - Freeform, SwanBeliever, There Was CaptainSwan But Hook Died, We'll Pretend Emma Suffered From Extreme Being In The Closetitis, You Will All Love Hating Me, bye bitch, regalbeliever, swanqueen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-20 06:01:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12426492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkestOfQueens/pseuds/DarkestOfQueens
Summary: The Mills family - Regina, Henry, Cinderella, and Lucy have returned to Storybrooke after breaking the Hyperion Heights Curse, but it is not as they remembered it. How will they navigate their home now that everything they knew has changed? How will they cope with the challenges of settling in and reconnecting with family and friends? SwanQueen is Endgame.  There are other ships for the purpose of the story, but SQ is the main story.





	Lost In The Shadows

**Author's Note:**

> First real story publishing here that will be novel length. It will be updated frequently.
> 
> I want to thank my WONDERFUL Beta, Angeii-K, who made this possible, being such a great inspiration and checking for crucial content clarity! Check out her fic "The Game Changer" 
> 
> Find me on Twitter @ImpsDelights
> 
> This is for Swen. For all you beautiful people who made my life better through our shared love of SwanQueen. Screw the haters, we got this.
> 
> I own nothing, except a few original characters. One in particular, she's my favorite. You'll see.

Had it been ten or twelve years since she had last seen Storybrooke? Regina Mills was not sure about the specifics. She knew Lucy Mills, her granddaughter, just turned eleven years old. Henry had not been home in over fifteen years. Time flies when chasing after his stories and adventures. Regina liked Cinderella, or as she preferred to be called Drella, as she reminded her of herself – strong, independent and oodles of sass. It took her a while to warm up to her, but eventually she came around to loving her through Lucy.

Lucy was currently Regina’s entire world apart from Henry. She loved every hair on that girl’s head and then some. She felt the protective urge around Lucy but it was not as overprotective as she had been with Henry at her age. She really did feel a difference in grandchildren. The incessant need to spoil them rotten overcame her. Henry and Drella insisted that this was not the way to go. Regina let them have it. How dare they try to prevent her showering Lucy with love and lots of candy? Regina had no problems using minor spells to get things for her. It occurred to her that this was the reason fate made her learn and become a master magicks practitioner – to entertain and provide for Lucy.

And so, how could she resist when Lucy politely asked if they could go back to Storybrooke? They found themselves in front of Regina’s mansion on a pleasant Friday afternoon. Regina insisted they settle in after a long journey while she left to go to Emma's house to inform her of their arrival.

She went to Emma’s house and finds an old woman there in a rocking chair, knitting. She had never seen her before. She approached and asked, "Hello, is this Emma Swan's house?"

The older woman startled and dropped her needles and yarn. The elder's eyes blinked in the brightness of the sun, and said "Who's asking. Come closer, I can't see you well from the sun."

Regina stepped forward toward the woman. The elder blinked again and slowly her mouth opened, eyes wide. She stood up slowly and Regina wants to help, but the older woman seemed to sense the urge and motioned her hands not to. She shuffled a few steps toward Regina in her slippers, looked directly into Regina's eyes and studied her face, smirked, "Madame Mayor. You look good."

Regina furrowed her eyebrows "Yes, I used to be Mayor. I'm looking for Emma Swan. Do you know where I might find her?"

The older woman sighed heavily. "I know where you can find her." Regina grew more irritated by this woman's odd behavior by the minute. She had other errands to run beside decipher these evasive answers. The older woman’s blatant gaze unnerved Regina to say the least.

The older woman moved her wrinkled hand and went to touch Regina, and naturally, Regina's reflexes moved out of the way of the hand. The woman looked saddened, but not before Regina noticed something on her wrist. Regina snatched her wrist quickly to which the older woman yelped in shock.

An old, faded Lyon flower tattoo. In that moment, she dropped the woman's wrist, heart sank with a thud in her chest, and Regina's hand flew to her chest in a strangled gasp. She couldn't think. She couldn't breathe. How could this be possible? How!

"Em-ma?"

The older woman chuckled. "You always were the clever one. Come inside, Regina, it's cold and I could use some hot cocoa before dinner."

"I don't understand. I... I don't understand. How can you be like this!" Regina motioned her hands around the physique of the elder woman, around Emma. This could not be possible. This must be a hallucination or a trick. A cloaking spell of some kind. Her mind raced with explanations.

"I'm wondering that myself about you. Either you're on one hell of a juice cleanse or you were stuck in another curse. I'm guessing curse winds swooped you up again."

Regina followed her into the house and closed the door behind her. Emma went to the kitchen as Regina, as if on instinct went to the sitting room to the right of the door. Everything seemed different and off. There was no other word for it - shock. She was in a state of shock. Then another matter came to the forefront. What about the others?

"Where's everyone else? Where's Captain Guyliner and the Charming softball team?"

Emma handed her a mug of cocoa carefully before she sat down and motioned for Regina to join her. She leaned back in her surprisingly elegant wingback sofa, barked out a familiar laugh that made Regina feel at ease. "Guyliner. I forgot you used to call him that. And Charming softball team. I missed you so much Regina. You have no idea." She put her hand on Regina's forearm, and Regina wasn't used to this contact from Emma. She seemed genial and far less affronted than Regina felt in the moment.

"Most are dead. Killian died about ten years ago. My parents are still kicking though. Other than that, It’s just me, the dog and the kids."

"Kids?" Regina could not say much else.

"Well, I don't know if you can tell by my flawless complexion, but I'm a grandmother. I have five grandchildren. Two boys and three girls. All little shits like Henry was except maybe the oldest, Funny thing, she reminds me of you a lot.” She mused then turned serious, “Regina, where's Henry. I missed him terribly. I shouldn't...shouldn't have ever left you all. It was selfish of me. I’m so sorry."

Regina didn't know what to say to all of that. This whole situation was bizarre. She could not believe it.

“I... What.” Regina, rarely at a loss for words could only sputter in what she surmised as stupidly.

Emma at the second raised her thin grey eyebrows, a knowing smirk twitching around her lined mouth. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you at a loss for words.” At this, Regina pursed her lips and arched an eyebrow.

"This...this is highly irregular. I don't know what to make of this. What happened. Why has time moved exponentially faster here? I don't understand,” She pondered for a half second, “Perhaps Rumple knows."

"That bastard. He hasn't aged a day. You know Regina it's some days I wish I stayed the Dark One so I wouldn't have to feel my bones ache and look in the mirror and see myself wither away."

Regina's heart felt a pang of guilt. "I'm sorry."

“Don't be sorry unless it's your fault. Is it?” She inquired curiously.

“It most certainly wasn’t me!”

“Ah, there you go, telling the truth again,” smiled Emma.

“Back to the original topic, what happened? Please, in detail if you can.”

“I don’t know exactly. I had a daughter, Ani, about eight months after I got back. Everything was fine until one day it wasn’t. 56 days after Ani was born. Not gonna lie, I used a lot of magic to do chores and such. So much easier taking care of a newborn if I could just clean up the place with a flick of the wrist. I got pretty good at changing the diapers too with it. Killian didn’t figure out how I was doing it much better. He wasn’t always the sharpest tool in the shed when it came to domestic things.”

“A life of gallivanting around the world in tight leather pants on a boat only with men doesn’t make for the best domesticity training,” Regina huffed. Of course, the pirate wouldn’t know the first thing about being an actual parent. She sipped on the cinnamon hot cocoa. Somehow, it eased her anxieties if only a smidgen.

Emma chuckled. “I seem to recall your affinity for leather pants.”

Regina looked sharply at those twinkling green eyes “I look better in them.”

“You look good in anything, Regina,” Emma smiled.

Regina furrowed her eyebrows at that but brushed it off. “Continue with the story.”

“Okay, so Killian is out in town, running errands and I’m cleaning up after Ani made a mess of breakfast. I go to use magic and it doesn’t work. I try everything. Long story short, magic just stopped working. Even Gold couldn’t use magic, and you can’t believe his amount of frustration.” 

“Magic stopped working. How is that even possible without a curse?” This dumbfounded Regina.

“Not a curse here, a curse elsewhere in our world. That’s what we thought anyway, but we couldn’t prove anything as we were trapped here. No one could leave. The town sealed itself again from the outside world.”

Regina sat back, in horror. “You couldn’t contact us.”

“Nope. But go figure the internet still works. We couldn’t find an email address, phone number, nothing. You know me, I’m good at finding people, and I couldn’t find a trace of you all, which means you all must have been cursed or trapped somewhere like we were.”

“So what have you been doing then. Surely, there was something you could do.”

“Regina, when I say we tried everything, we did. We tried everything.”

“And with no magic, I would assume it was difficult to find out anything.”

“You got it. And frustrating, Regina, let me tell you. I’m one hundred percent certain that was the downfall of our marriage.”

Regina looked at her sharply. “Excuse me, the downfall of your marriage?”

“Yeah, crazy right? Killian and I divorced when Ani was four. We knew it wasn’t going to work out. He tried, of course, but I was heartbroken. I couldn’t cope well with not contacting anyone. I had no idea what happened. I thought I lost my family. I did lose my family. It destroyed me. There was nothing he could do about it. And so, we divorced amicably. Well, as amicably as we could. We shared joint custody of Ani. He eventually dated others but he never remarried. Guess we were never True Love to begin with.”

“Well, I could have told you that. You are too good for him,” Regina huffed and Emma chuckled, “Did you find someone else?”

Emma opened her mouth and closed it again. She looked at her watch. Then replied “I’m going to have to prepare dinner. The kids are coming over for dinner and my parents. You are more than welcome to stay if you’d like.”

Regina blinked. She wanted to continue to talk to Emma, but she sensed Emma did not want to continue talking about the subject and let it go for the time being. There were other pressing matters; such as she didn’t like the prospect of meeting Emma’s grandchildren yet. She wanted to go back home to sort this all out, but something made her say “Yes, I would love that. Would you like some assistance with dinner preparations?”

Emma beamed with delight. “I have everything ready to go. You’re the perfect person to help too. Today is lasagna.”

“Really? My, you’ve certainly upped your game.” Regina smiled and followed Emma to the kitchen slowly. Emma couldn’t walk very fast, and as if on cue, Emma grabbed a cane on the side of the table in the kitchen. It broke Regina’s heart to see the fierce and strong Emma Swan, the woman who cut down her apple tree, so feeble.

“Yes, I’ve had lots of practice. It might be as good as yours by now.”

“Hmm, we’ll see. Mind if I tinker with it a bit?”

“Go right ahead.”

Regina didn’t need to tinker with it much as it appeared to have been on par with hers at the very least barring one ingredient. “Does anyone have an aversion or allergy to red pepper?”

Emma frowned a bit, “Red pepper? Not that I’m aware of, no.”

“Good because a dash of red pepper flakes makes all the difference in lasagna. You’ll see.”

“I have no doubt. I trust you. Henry always said you made the best food.”

Regina’s heart sank. Henry. She forgot to tell Emma. “Emma, there’s something I have to mention.”

Emma knew what was coming. “Henry, if there was something wrong you would have mentioned it from the get-go. So, how is our boy?”

Her heart lifted at how Emma referred to him that way. “He’s fine. More than fine. Apparently, he’s found True Love, and well, congratulations, you have another granddaughter to add to the litter.”

Emma dropped her cane and spun around as fast as she could. The cane somehow splintered to reveal sharp steel. “What! He has a daughter! What’s her name? Are they here? Regina!”

Regina walked over to the cane and picked it up, and unsheathed a sword. “Why am I not surprised you have a sword contained within a cane.”

She retrieved it from Regina and pushed it back into place and leaned on it again “Ani got it made for me, it’s neat huh. But Regina, Henry. Where is he?”

“He’s fine, dear. He’s at my place settling in. I should call them to, uh, explain things before they enter town.”

“Invite him over. We have plenty of food and I would love to meet his daughter and his, wife I guess because there’s no way you’d allow him to have a kid without being married first.” Regina chuckled.

“On that point, you are correct. He is happily married to Cinderella and their daughter is named Lucy. She’s 11.”

Emma looked fit to burst with pride and love. “Lucy. And wait a second, Cinderella?”

“There’s more than one apparently.”

“Ah, okay. So that means there’s more than one of you then, I take it,” she smirked.

Regina looked affronted and straightened up to her fullest height, “There can only be one Regina Mills.”

“You got that right. So, Regina, please, invite them over. The kids would love to meet them. I want to see Henry. It’s been so long.”

“I’m not sure if that’s the wisest course of action, Emma. He doesn’t know, yet about the circumstances.”

“Well, then tell him. Chop chop, Regina! I haven’t seen my son in 35 years!” There it was. Emma Swan, the fiery woman who stormed up Storybrooke all those years ago.

Regina gaped at Emma. Had it been that long? “35 years, you say. Emma, do you mind me asking how old you are?”

“Ah, that’s not polite asking a woman her age, Regina, you should know better.” she wagged her finger at her and Regina gave her the warning look. “All right, I’m 73 years young. Yes, I look great for my age before you say it.”

Hearing the number out loud made Regina’s insides squirm. “All right Emma. I’ll call him.”

Emma walked as fast as she could toward Regina and hugged her fiercely. Regina couldn’t help herself as she fell into Emma’s small frame, and started to cry. She couldn’t help it. She felt at home in Emma’s arms, and it wasn’t a feeling she was used to. It overwhelmed her. Emma gripped tighter and said through a choked sob, “God, Regina, I have missed you and Henry so much. So long.”

Regina broke the embrace, pulled back, “Emma, I should call Henry.”

Emma sniffled, “Yes, call him. I can’t wait to see him and my daughter in law and my granddaughter!” She squealed in excitement.

Regina pulled out her phone and dialed Henry’s new number. “Hello, Henry. Yes, I’m fine. How is everything? Good….good...Henry, I’m here with Emma and she would like to see you, Drella and Lucy. Yes, she’s invited us all for dinner. Henry, there’s something we need to talk about first. I’ll explain when you get here. Yes, come as soon as you can. Okay, good. I’ll see you shortly. I love you.” She hit the End Call button and sighed heavily. “Well, I had less apprehension casting a Dark Curse than this.”

“Tell me about it. Hey, Regina, do you think magic is back? I think we should multiply the food just in case. I wasn’t expecting an additional four mouths to feed. You think it’ll work.”

“I suppose we should try a small amount first. Have you got anything small to test out?”

Emma went to the cupboard and retrieved a single bear claw. Regina smiled. “Yeah, I know, old habits die hard and whatnot. Mind if you try. I haven’t used magic in ages. I don’t want to accidentally blow us up.” Regina chuckled.

“No, that would be most unfortunate, dear.” Regina waved her hand and concentrated on multiplying the pastry, and with a small little poof of purple smoke, four additional bear claws appeared. Emma yelped in excitement and eagerly tried one.

“Oh, Regina,” she moaned in pleasure, “It’s so delicious. Thank you!”

“You’re welcome,” she smiled at Emma. “Shall I set the table and add additional chairs?”

“Yeah, right through there. I’m going to finish this and spoil my dinner. Uh, don’t mention that to the kids, they aren’t allowed to have sweets before their dinner is finished.”

“My, I do like this version of you,” Regina walked to the dining room and with a flick of the wrist, set a perfect table for all the guests and additional chairs as well as lengthening the table to accommodate. For an added bonus, she put a sparkling chandelier above the table and lit the entire room with a dazzle fit for a royal dinner. Pleased with herself, she returned to the kitchen. “Everything is all set. Now, we wait.”

“Yeah, like I haven’t done enough of that already,” Emma lamented. However, she did not have to wait long as they both turned toward the driveway. They heard a car.

“Wait here, I’ll go out front and inform him before he has a shock. Okay, just a minute more, Emma.” She nodded and Regina turned on her heel, took a deep breath and exited through the front door.

Henry stood there with a dark navy peacoat, his old grey and red scarf with Drella dressed in a light blue blouse with jeans, a light brown leather jacket and Lucy between them, bounced up and down in excitement who wore a pink peacoat, identical to her father’s save for the color. Regina approached them cautiously.

“What’s up, Mom,” Henry said.

“I don’t know how much you’ve seen of the town yet but there’s been a bit of an issue,” Regina started.

“No, we’ve been at home. This is the first we’re coming out into town. So, what’s going on? What’s the issue?”

“I, well, Henry, there’s something you need to know before you enter. Emma is different.”

Henry looked perplexed, “Different? How?”

“Well...Unlike us she’s aged,” she said lamely.

“Okay, we’ve all aged mom.”

“Aged like she’s collecting retirement,” Regina said to paint a picture. Henry always needed something to gather an image to wrap his mind around. His face fell slightly and Drella looked dumbfounded. At this news, Lucy bounced even more excitedly. Regina continued in the silence, “Aged as in dentures, bones creak when she moves, old.” At this, Henry and Drella’s mouth fell open.

"Hey! I'll have you know I still have all my teeth!" All their heads whipped to the front door as Emma clearly called through though they couldn’t see her.

Regina frowned and rolled her eyes, "Apparently her hearing is still good enough to eavesdrop.”

Henry, abandoned his caution and tried to get past Regina, said loudly, “MOM!” Regina put her hand on his chest to prevent him from moving forward.

“HENRY! Listen to me, carefully, there’s more. She has a lot of family now.”

Henry stopped and gazed into her worried brown eyes, “Family? What?”

"What I mean is, you have a lot of nieces and nephews now,” Regina said. At that precise moment, a gaggle of people came around the corner laughing. Regina’s stomach plummeted. “And I believe this is them.”

They turned to face the newcomers as Emma decided to open the door and greet her family. All of her family, though, the Mills’ did not see her as they were focused on the young, fit looking couple with five children.

Three girls all around Lucy’s age and two twin boys who were the youngest and the loudest of the bunch. Two girls had flowing golden locks of hair except what appeared to be the oldest. The oldest of the girls had a no-nonsense short haircut, brown and reddish hair in the sunlight; she carried what appeared to be a covered dish, a pie Regina hazarded a guess. The boys looked strong and had short cropped blond hair. The couple that flanked them; a woman with a short blonde pixie cut with dazzling green eyes and a man, tall and darker blonde short hair with a hint of curls and hazel eyes. They smiled at the Mills’. Lucy broke away from her parents to greet them. Henry, Drella and Regina stood, their collective mouths open.

The two blonde haired girls yelled “Gramma!”

At this, Henry turned around to see Emma for the first time. He couldn’t help it, he ran over to her and yelled “Holy shit! Mom?!” Emma smiled sheepishly and motioned for a hug. Henry knew this to be Emma. He just sensed it like so many years ago when he first laid eyes on her when she opened the door for him in Boston. He hugged her without trying to crush her. “Mom….mom….I...mom.” Tears fell down as he hugged his mom.

Emma tried not to cry but she did. “Hey kid.”

The blonde girls ran forward to greet Emma and the young brunette eyed the newcomers suspiciously. One of the boys asked his mother, “Who’re they, mommy?”

The woman replied, “I’m not sure.” She eyed Henry with an inkling. She looked at the others, the beautiful middle-aged brunette, the young girl in the pink peacoat and the blue-bloused woman in curiosity. “I’m not sure, Daniel.”

At this, Regina’s heart sank further. No matter how long it had been, the name Daniel brought back memories of her lost love and heartbreak. She took a deep breath and exhaled. This was going to be a roller coaster of emotions she had not planned on when she sought out to find Emma.

Henry broke away from Emma and just stared at her until one of the little blonde girls tugged at his jacket, “Mister, can I hug my Gramma now?” Henry blinked and the recognition dawned on him. He nodded and backed away as the little girls hugged Emma.

The woman couldn’t take her eyes off Regina. She stared and it started to make Regina uncomfortable, “Hello, I’m-”

But the woman cut her off, “You are Regina Mills.”

Regina blinked, dumbfounded. “Yes, I am.”

“I recognize you from the portraits hanging in city hall. So, that’s Henry then,” she eyed Henry who couldn’t take his eyes off Emma. She stepped forward and hugged Regina who stiffened. “I’m Ani Swan, I’m Emma’s daughter.”

Regina broke away and studied her for a second and recognized the green eyes, the cheekbones, and chin of the Emma she remembered though something of Ani reminded her of Emma’s mother. This was no doubt Emma’s daughter and Snow White’s granddaughter. “Pleasure to meet you. I assume you know who Henry is. This is Drella and Lucy, Henry’s wife and their daughter.” She gestured around. Lucy was trying to engage in conversation with the young brunette holding the covered pan. Drella extended her hand and greeted Ani though the latter gave her a warm hug. The boys who seemed to have a mind of their own disappeared into the house, cackled in laughter.

“And this is my husband, James,” they shook hands. “And our children, Daniel and David who probably are looking for cookies inside at the moment, the girls are Mary and Ava, the ones hugging mom, and this is Henrietta.” she gestured to the little brunette who looked taken aback by all the commotion but heard her name clearly.

“Mom, it’s Etta, if you please,” she stated simply.

“I’m Lucy, nice to meet you, Etta! Do you need help with taking that in?”

“No, thank you, I can manage,” she replied coolly.

Emma finished her hugs and kisses with the girls who ran behind her to follow the boys. “Hey, um, so this is awkward.” Henry turned around to see the rest of them. He locked eyes on Ani.

“Henry,” she whispered, stepped forward hesitantly and he went down the steps to greet her, a familiar tug in the pit of his stomach. She had heard all about her big brother, seen childhood photos of him, and all she ever wanted was to meet him. And here he stood before her, in flesh and blood, not an old photograph or home movie. She never thought she would ever meet him though she wished it so for so many years. “Hi, I’m Ani. I’m your sister.” She went to shake his hand, but Henry wasn’t having any of that. He swooped her up in his arms with a cry of joy. She gasped then laughed as he lifted her off the ground and twirled her.

“Ani! Oh my God. You’re my sister! Mom was pregnant the last time I saw her and look at you!” he set her down to look at her, hands on her shoulders. She blushed at the unexpected attention from her older half-brother who looked younger than her. “Wow, you look so much like Emma!” She beamed as did Emma.

Ani introduced them to her family and said “This is Henrietta, we named her after you. She’s our firstborn,” Etta shot her a look, “But we call her Etta for short.”

Henry kneeled in front of Etta and looked into her hazel eyes. “Hi Etta, I’m your long lost uncle Henry. It’s nice to finally meet you. I see you’ve met your cousin, Lucy.” Etta nodded and looked at all of them. Her newfound family that she heard a lot about.

“Can we go inside please before this pie gets cold,” Etta said. Regina chuckled.

Another pair rolled up around the corner, an older couple holding hands. Emma swore. They stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of them. The older woman with a pixie haircut and tan cardigan stuttered in disbelief, “Reg-Regina? Hen-Henry?” She looked as if she was about to faint and as if on cue, began to falter in her husband’s arms.

“Oh my god, Grandma!” Ani rushed over to help them as well as James. The older woman regained her footing once Ani grabbed her other arm to assist her. Regina and Henry stepped forward in complete disbelief.

“Oh dear God. Snow...Charming?” Regina said. They looked better than Emma by the looks of it in terms of aging. Regina found this to be disconcerting.

Henry quickly strode past his mother to help. He put his hands on Snow’s shoulders and said “Hey, it’s me. Henry,” she blinked in confusion and in shock. “I found you.” Henry knew this would bring her around.

Snow let out a sob and wrestled her arms away from Ani and Charming, grabbed the now much taller Henry into a tear-filled, anguished hug. “I knew you would find us. I knew you would, Henry. Oh god, I’ve missed you so much!”

Henry yet again, eyes welled up, “Did you ever doubt I would?” She sobbed further.

“Never. Never doubted it, my sweet Henry. Oh god, you’re so grown up!” she laughed. They pulled apart and she looked him over, surveyed his features. She recognized those green eyes that held such curiosity and determination. Henry turned to look at Charming.

“You know, those sword lessons saved my neck a time or two, grandpa,” and they hugged as Charming smiled.

Snow looked at Regina and couldn’t believe her eyes, “Regina! Oh my, oh my.” She moved forward and hugged Regina tenderly. Regina didn’t stiffen, rather she melted into Snow’s loving arms.

“Snow, this may be coming out of my mouth for the first in my life, but I have missed you and your Charming Prince,” Regina said as Snow laughed into her shoulder. She didn’t shed a tear as Snow had but she felt the love between them. Hard fought over the years, but all the time same, she felt it.

Etta piped up again, “I think my brothers and sisters may be devouring your cupboard, gramma,” she said to Emma, who looked panicked for a moment.

“Right, Regina, um, the lasagna. We can take this inside, come on,” she motioned for all of them to come forward into the house.

They followed her inside and went to the dining room as Regina, Emma, Ani and Etta went to the kitchen. “Well, that was, better than expected,” said Emma as she leaned on the door frame as Etta delicately placed the covered dish on the counter. “Etta, is that what I think it is?”

“Yes, Gramma, it’s your favorite. I made it myself,” she said proudly. Regina glanced over as she set down the lasagne.

“Oh yes, I can’t wait to dive into that,” said Emma, licking her lined lips, green eyes sparkling. Etta smiled and excused herself to join the others.

“And what’s your favorite?” Regina inquired. Emma looked shy and Ani found this peculiar. She’s never known her mother to be this way.

“Mom loves fresh apple pie. It’s her favorite dessert. Etta and I have perfected it. It’s much better than Granny’s,” answered Ani.

Regina’s eyebrows went up, interested in her choice of dessert, “Granny’s is good but mine is better if I say so myself.”

“Should be since it’s your recipe we used,” Ani replied. At this, Regina’s eyebrows went further up.

“Don’t worry, Regina, I didn’t go into your house and steal recipes. Mary Margaret, remember, you gave her your recipes before you left. You insisted the town not be deprived of your excellent food in your absence.”

Regina thought on it and sighed, “Oh yes, I do recall that. Apologies if I jumped to conclusions.”

Emma rolled her eyes and smirked. Ani observed them carefully. There was a playful twinkle in her mother’s eyes she had never noticed before. “Well, this isn’t nearly enough for everyone. Shall I go to the store to get something more?”

Emma waved her arm a bit, “No need Ani, um, well, magic is back as well.”

Regina stopped still and muttered to Emma, “I see you’re still as subtle as a freight train.” To this, Emma rolled her eyes.

Ani took a half a second longer to register what Emma said and dropped the utensil with a clatter. “Magic? Wait a moment. Magic? Are you sure, mom?”

“Definitely. Regina, if you would do the honors?” she motioned for Regina who in turn waved her hand gracefully with a careful flick, four extra lasagna trays appeared out of thin air in a cloud of purple smoke. Ani gasped excitedly, blinked rapidly as if the trays would vanish just as suddenly as their appeared.

“Oh my god, that’s amazing! Mom, can you do magic too? I mean, have you tried?” she asked.

“Oh, not yet. I’ll have to do some practice otherwise we may end up in a dire situation,” Emma laughed.

Etta entered the kitchen again announcing, “Everyone is seated, we can serve now.” She frowned and looked at the four new lasagne trays. Then glanced at her mother, grandmother, and Regina who looked very pleased with herself. “That’s more than I saw in the oven just a few minutes ago, and there’s a new chandelier in the dining room.”

Regina looked at Etta and said, “You’re quite observant, Etta.”

Etta focused on and Regina asked, “How did you do that?”

Ani beat Regina to the punch, “Magic! Etta, magic is back! Isn’t it wonderful!”

Etta concentrated for a moment on the trays and said, “That’s something I never expected.” Emma chuckled along with Ani. Regina smirked. “Well, I wouldn’t tell David and Daniel just yet. They already cause enough of a headache without magic added to the mix.”

They bursted out in laughter and even Etta chuckled in amusement at her own joke. Regina moved around and asked, “Etta, would you mind helping us serve?”

“Of course. You may want to do that with the pie, too. Just in case,” she pointed at the covered pie.

“Would you like to see?” Emma asked Etta, and she nodded. Regina strode over to the pie and flicked her wrist and one additional pie appeared in purple smoke beside the original.

Etta’s eyes grew wide in wonder and amazement. “That’s impressive.”

Emma whined, “Regina, really, only one extra?”

Etta was quick to respond, “Gramma, you said it yourself, too many sweets cause stomach aches and make us regret eating them in the first place.”

At this, Regina snorted. Ani and Etta looked at Regina confused. Emma responded, smiling with a pat on the shoulder, “Yeah, kid, that’s right.”

“Can’t imagine where Emma heard that particular bit of advice,” Regina gave a bemused look which Emma returned with a sigh and rolled her eyes.

They placed all the lasagne in the middle of the table and Emma sat at the head of the table with Snow and Charming on her left, James and Ani to her right and the children on either side. Henry, Drella and Lucy sat alongside one another, Lucy in the middle across from Etta. This left Regina wondering where to sit. Ani caught her attention and motioned for Regina to sit at the other end of the table opposite Emma, and she moved cautiously to sit down.

Emma spoke, “Before I starve myself anymore, bon appetit!” They all passed around the silverware and plated the lasagna. Emma took the first bite and moaned. “Ugh, Regina, this is delicious!”

Everyone agreed as they all devoured their first helping in relative silence, all beamed at one another. Emma, who enjoyed her family dinners as is, felt like a weight lifted off her shoulders and chest. She was in heaven. She was with all of her family, well most of them. At this, Regina inquired to Snow and Charming, “Where is Neal?”

Charming answered as Snow had a mouthful of food, “He’s working tonight out at the station.”

“Oh, he’s the sheriff now?” Regina asked.

“That he is and the department has grown a bit since the last time you were here,” Charming said and took another bite.

“And, are there any other additions to the family?” Regina pressed further.

Snow frowned a bit and swallowed, “No, it’s just him. He hasn’t met the right woman yet.”

“I see,” Regina said.

“My brother is a bit prickly,” Emma said softly.

“Much like a certain sheriff I once worked with,” Regina smirked and looked directly at Emma.

All the adults save for Etta and Lucy, looked from Emma to Regina. Emma rolled her eyes, “Yeah yeah, I wasn’t so warm and fluffy when I first arrived here, I give you that.”

Ani looked at Snow and Henry chuckled, “Emma wasn’t prickly, Mom. She was just different.”

“I seem to recall an apple tree incident if my memory serves correctly,” Regina offered playfully, her chocolate eyes twinkled. Emma, Henry, Snow and Charming laughed at this.

Etta asked over her brothers who started a game with their sisters over who could shape their lasagne into a taller mound on their plates, “What apple tree incident?” Lucy and Etta were both keen to hear the details on their grandmother's rather than play with her food.

Emma and Regina looked at one another and Emma sighed, “Well, as you know when I first arrived in town, the Mayor, Henry’s mom Regina, didn’t like me much.”

“That’s an understatement,” chuckled Henry and Regina glared at him to which the other laughed. Regina cracked a trace of a smile as she knew Henry was correct in this particular assessment.

Emma continued, “Yeah, well, back in the day, I was a bit hotheaded and got carried away, wanted to make a statement so I picked a lot of apples from Regina’s tree without her permission.”

Henry snorted as Regina huffed in response, “You took a chainsaw to it and cut half of it down practically!”

Etta’s eyebrows moved upward, and Ani’s jaw dropped at this as she looked at her mother in a new found light, “You did what, mom?”

Emna shrugged and took a sip of her drink. “Like I said, a bit hot-tempered. Anyhow, it was one of many instances of our famed rivalry.”

Henry chimed in, “To be fair, I didn’t help matters at the time.”

Snow added, “Henry just wanted the curse to break and did everything he could to further it along.”

Regina narrowed her eyes and felt she was being placed in that old title, so she changed trajectory, “I was rather harsh with you in the beginning, I admit that.”

Emma waved her hand and took another sip, “It’s all in the past, Reg.” Regina felt a tug in her chest at the nickname. She’d never heard Emma use it before. Though she found it slightly irritating, it made her mouth twitch into a hint of a smile.

Etta pressed onward, “We’ve all been told the story of how the curse broke and most of everything that happened. I’m curious what happened when Uncle Henry left and afterward. How come you all haven’t aged? Miss Regina looks the same as in the pictures in city hall.”

The boys and girls perked up at this. They loved to hear stories, stopped playing with their food and listened intently. “Yeah, what happened?” asked the younger David.

The adults all looked to Regina for an answer. Regina took a sip of her drink to formulate an answer. “Etta, as I’m sure you’re aware, I joined Henry in another realm to help him in his quest to find Drella here. It’s a terribly long story and complicated. To answer your question regarding our lack of change, well, Emma and I suspect it’s due to a curse that Drella’s step-mother cast upon us. It seems to have sped up time here whilst everything else, where we were located, moved at the same pace. So you see, it’s caused certain discrepancies.”

There was a slight pause at this revelation at which Lucy offered, “We broke the curse and decided to come back. We didn’t know anything changed that much.”

Charming spoke, “So, everyone else who was on the outside, they just lived at the same pace?”

Regina nodded. “It would appear so.”

Snow asked, “What about magic? We couldn’t use magic here. Could you all use magic out there?”

Henry answered, “No, it was like the other curse only time didn’t stand still. And we weren’t in a bubble like Storybrooke the first time around. We were scattered all around Seattle. Even Rumple was stuck again.”

Emma shot Regina a glare, “Gold? What do you mean? He’s been here with us the whole time.”

Henry answered her, “The Rumple you know, Mr. Gold, is the original Rumplestiltskin. The one I’m referring to is the Wish Realm Rumple.”

Snow and Charming groaned. Emma blurted out, “What the hell, there are two of them!”

“Mom, the kids!” Ani and Snow both shot Emma a look. Emma apologized while the boys giggled and the blonde girls gasped. Etta looked disapprovingly at her Gramma as none of them heard Emma curse before.

Henry found this most amusing and crossed his arms. “See, that other Wish Realm the Evil Queen created, the one she sent you to from the lamp, well, it’s real. You and mom were sent to a parallel universe. Another possibility. There are endless, countless realms out there. We’re only one of them.”

“Hold on, wait a moment. I was the only Emma in that world if I remember that right. And there was another you in it, Henry, and Regina….Regina….” She looked horrified at the memory, sudden realization struck her.

Regina answered softly, “Yes, I, unfortunately, killed your parents in that realm.” Snow and Charming gaped at Regina in horror. Ani and James looked at Regina, mouths open. “I thought it wasn’t real, and thought that was the only way to jolt Emma awake.” She finished, defensively. Only to herself would she admit that killing them made the situation far more complicated for Henry, Regina and Wish Hook.

Etta tilted her head in curiosity, “So, this other universe, I assume there are other duplicates too?”

Henry leaned back and draped an arm over Lucy and Drella, “Some, yes, I ran into the other version of me and he was not happy to see my mom, I can tell you that much. He thought she was the wish realm Evil Queen, and he thought she kidnapped wish Emma and killed Queen Snow and King David. I may have caused a bit of a paradox and Rumple had to come sort it out. Gave the other me a potion and he didn’t remember a thing. Wish Rumple wanted us out of there pronto. He tried everything in his power to remove us. And Lady Tremaine had other ideas. It’s really complicated. Long story short, she cast a curse and set us on this course. Rumple was not a happy camper.”

Young Mary asked her first question, hesitantly, “Why not?”

“Oh, so you see, Wish Henry and I are the same person but we’re not. We share similar fates, or destinies if you will. Wish Rumple didn’t want Drella here to run off with me, for reasons I don’t fully understand.”

“Are you True Loves?” Mary’s sister Ava asked.

“Yes, we are,” Henry grinned at Drella who returned a bright smile.

“How so?” Etta asked.

“Well, let’s see. There’s a sparkle, light inside you that tickles your soul from the inside when you meet your True Love. It’s noticeable when there’s magic in the world. When there’s no magic, it just feels like,” Henry motioned his hand in front of him in fists and pulled them toward his chest, “you're connected to the other person and you can’t explain why. You feel a pull like gravity. It’s there. No matter how much you fight it, it keeps drawing you back to each other.”

Snow and David shared a knowing smile. Though they didn’t realize Etta observed them, old green eyes met the younger chocolate pair from across the table for an instant. They looked back to Henry who continued.

“Cinderella is my True Love and we couldn’t fight it, we just fell into each other after much fighting and resistance against the pull,” Henry finished.

“You were stubborn, Henry Mills,” said Drella.

Mary and Ava exchanged “Wows” with one another. They loved hearing about True Love stories. The boys soon lost interest again, resumed their ever-growing mountain of lasagna mess.

Etta’s eyes fixed on Henry again, determined to get to the bottom of this mystery that so intrigued her. “So, the curse. How come it affected us differently here?”

“Honestly, I have no idea,” he said, now pondered why this time shift had been different.

Etta huffed at the lack of a response. Regina answered, “It might have something to do with Henry being the Author.”

Etta asked even though she had heard of this plausibility, “The Author?”

“That’s something we can discuss at a later date, Etta,” said Henry. “Any questions you have, I’ll answer to the best of my ability. Mom, you were saying.”

They all looked at Regina to continue. “I’m going into conjecture here so bear with me. As far as I am aware, this is the first time, in known history, that an Author was trapped inside a curse. Powerless to record and document events as they take place. The magic froze in place. I suppose, anything that was created with magic in this world before went without, shall we call it, a chaperone or guide, the Author’s power containing the time, space and magic within a single congruent force.”

Emma nodded in agreement, “You know, Gold mentioned once that the Author’s powers may be the reason for this.”

“As much as I dislike agreeing with him, in this case, it’s safe to say that time ran amok here without the Author’s omnipresent power,” Regina offered.

“You know, that makes a whole lot of sense, mom,” said Henry.

“We can’t know for sure, of course. We may have to pay a visit to Rumple,” Regina sighed in dismay. She did not want to see him again, not in this realm or any other.

Snow spoke, “He’s not exactly happy these days.”

Emma chuckled, “Was he ever, mom.”

Charming offered, “More so than before. It’s probably best if we accompany you.”

James, who remained silent for most of the conversation along with Ani, said, “We’ll all go together. He’s best dealt with in numbers.”

Regina raised her eyebrows, “Oh, how so.”

“He’s less likely to yell at us to get out of his store if we all come together with a possible solution to what’s been bothering him,” James said.

“Indeed. Well, I suppose when we turn up along with the Charming squad, he’ll be more inclined to deal,” said Regina.

Emma smirked and looked at Regina, “He doesn’t deal anymore. He’s lost interest in dealing a while back. All he cares about are answers and if no new information is offered, he throws something at us to leave.”

“I assure you, Miss Swan, we will have his undivided attention when I come knocking on his door,” Regina dropped her voice low and threateningly as if Rumple were stood there and listened to them.

Regina hadn’t noticed that apart from herself, Henry, Emma and the Charmings, all eyes fixed upon Emma and Regina. Even the younger children looked up at the stunned silence. Regina finally said, “What?”

Emma smirked, “You know, I’ve really missed that tone of yours. Even the Miss Swan bit.”


End file.
